CDC: Nearly 75% of high schoolers not getting enough sleep

The Centers for Disease Control has released new evidence that the nation's children are getting less sleep then they need.

According to a new report from the CDC, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine has recommended that children aged 6–12 years should regularly sleep 9–12 hours a day, while teens aged 13–18 years should sleep 8–10 hours per day.

The CDC says that according to data collected from teens in 2015, nearly 73 percent of high school students say they are getting less than the recommended 8 hours.

Middle schoolers reported that more than half of students (57.8%) sleep less than nine hours a night.

The study is part of the Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (YRBSs) in which students in a mixed test sample complete an anonymous, voluntary, school-based paper-and-pencil questionnaire.

More than 20% of all middle school students tested said that they sleep six hours of sleep or less. By the time students reach high school that number rises to 43%.

The report from the CDC also says that girls are more likely to lose out on sleep. 75.6 percent of high school girls and 59.6 percent of middle school girls report getting less sleep than recommended.

Similarly, minority students were also more likely to report being sleep deprived.

The CDC says that lack of sleep can lead to chronic conditions such as diabetes, obesity, and poor mental health, as well as injuries, attention and behavioral problems, and poor academic performance.

The CDC says that the research proves a need to delay school start times to "permit students adequate time for sleep."

The reports also said, "School districts can also support adequate sleep among students by implementing delayed school start times as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine."

By 2017, school districts nationwide had begun to tentatively push back start times, although many are still weighing the options.